WHILE THE KETTLE BOILS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 26, 22 December 1939, Page 43

WHILE THE KETTLE BOILS

Dear Friends, Do you remember the old nursery rhyme?Xmas is coming and the ducks are getting fat, Please put’ a‘penny in the old man’s hat. If you haven't got a penny a farthing will do, If you haven't got a farthing-God bless you! This childish jingle expresses, I think, the whole spirit of Christmas-that of giving. Christmas is a time of festivity and family celebration. When we speak of Yuletide, we think of Father Christmas and reindeer, toys and gifts, coloured balloons and bonbons, Christmas trees shining‘ with candles, the Christmas turkey and pudding, cookies frosted with white and red icing, mince pies and gingerbread men with currants for eyes. All the exciting, indigestible, beautifully foolish things that belong alone to the Christmas Season, Yet if we burrowed down beneath the icing and the glitter, we would find something deeper and stronger that makes this one day in the year happy and memorable for us all. It began one night a long time back in Bethlehem, when a Star shone so bright that it dazzled the watchers who knelt in homage beneath the radiant sky. The Spirit of Christianity was born that night, and through hundreds of years on every Christmas Day, Christianity takes on a more vital, glowing meaning. It is expressed through the simple gesture of giving-and that is the real meaning of-Happy Christmas! Happiness-because, for that brief season, self is forgotten, and we know the keener, rarer pleasure of giving. Families draw closer together, friends forgather, and over all presides that spirit of friendliness and goodwill that tells us the Star shines as bright to-day. as it did that radiant night in Bethlehem nearly two thousand years ago. _ For the past weeks, here at home, as well as- all over the world, people’s minds have been busied with the all important problem of Christmas gifts. It is a problem, isn’t it? Nobody must be forgotten, and with pencil and note-book we sit down and worry out how our budget will stand the strain of our expectations, The mere male, of course, at normal times a pathetic shopper, is lost before he starts. But more enterprising woman has, at least, a sporting chance, To say nothing of her ingenuity, many women take a delight in fashioning their own Christmas gifts, arid nothing gives the recipient greater pleasure than this intimate, personal gesture. There are so many really attractive things that one can make at home. Worked linen is. always acceptable. Book-markers, metal-work, painted calendars, coat and stocking hangers, parchment telephone book-covers, perfumed sachets, dressed boudoir dolls, and dozens of other charming trifles. One woman I know, a renowned cook, has a unique idea of selecting a dozen of her most prized recipes. She writes them out neatly and encloses them in an illuminated parchment folder. These she sends to a few privileged friends who, she knows, will appreciate the thought. I. have. so many wishes for you this Christmas. That the war cloud may soon be lifted. That prosperity and the priceless boon of health may be your lot. That each day of 1940 may bring you-.an added happiness — and a greater content. That life for all of you may be kinder, fuller, richer, All this I wish for you and yours. A happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year to you all! : Cordially Yours,

Cynthia